Archive for December 2016

Taking a blogging break for the holidays and a short family vacation … posts will resume Monday, January 9.

One of my favorite features over at electionlineWeekly is Mindy Moretti’s “exit interviews” with departing Secretaries of State. Her latest focuses on Montana’s Linda McCulloch and West Virginia’s Natalie Tennant.

David Ammons, communications director for the Washington Secretary of State’s office, is retiring at the end of the year – a well-deserved break after over four-and-a-half decades as a reporter and public servant in the Evergreen State.

A few weeks ago, the Census Bureau released its updated minority language determinations under Section 203 of the Voting Rights Act. A new blog post by Democracy Fund senior fellow Terry Ao Minnis and Stacey Scholl examines what new and continuing jurisdictions on that list can do to comply with the law – and help their voters.

I’ve blogged a couple of times about a strange controversy involving a close election and missing ballots in Nevada’s Mineral County – and now, it appears, the case has been solved and the matter laid to rest. It’s a reminder that many of the stories that pop up here take a while to resolve. In a time where controversies bloom, rage and fade in a single news cycle I find that oddly comforting.

I’m always excited about the New Year, but I’m especially looking forward to 2017 because it means my friend and colleague Tammy Patrick will be adding her name to the list of individuals offering online grad-level courses as part of the University of Minnesota’s Certificate in Election Administration program!

The EAC is responding to reports that its website was hacked and login credentials stolen and offered for sale online. It’s a vivid reminder of the importance to election officials of keeping cybersecurity top of mind.

MIT’s Charles Stewart has a new blog post that uses his (highly-anticipated!) post-election voter survey data to bring some interesting – and encouraging – news about the progress being made on reducing waits at the polls.

The voter ID issue never quite went away, but after 2016 the issue is about to experience a resurgence. To that end, it’s important to note how the voter ID fight has evolved and what that might mean in 2017 and beyond.

The struggle between states and the federal government for control of the nation’s election system is likely about to reignite after Georgia alleged that the U.S. DHS attempted to penetrate its election databases without permission.